


Mage of Hope

by Chichirinoda



Series: Collared Visions Arc [4]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-09
Updated: 2011-07-09
Packaged: 2017-10-21 04:39:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/221007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chichirinoda/pseuds/Chichirinoda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sollux wants out of the collar. Is Eridan out of luck for yet another quadrant, or can he force or somehow persuade Sollux to stay after all?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mage of Hope

**Author's Note:**

> Written for kink_bingo, for the prompt "Held Down"

Sollux woke from a dream of horrorterrors to the murmur of voices that he knew was entirely inside his own skull. A skull that, thankfully, didn't hurt nearly as much as it had when he went to sleep, though he knew the swollen bump on the back of his head would take a few days to go down.

He pushed himself up, looking around warily for Eridan. At first, he didn't see him at all, and his relief at being alone on the sleeping rectangle gave way quickly to a fear that he had been abandoned in the room again, unable to leave until Eridan deigned to let him out.

Then a soft splash brought his eyes around to the pool, and he saw a flash of shiny wet grey skin as Eridan dove deeply under the water once more.

Well, sulking in the pool was better than menacing Sollux, so the smaller troll got up from the bed and went in search of his clothes, keeping a close eye on the pool. He didn't know what to expect from the rejected royal, and it was entirely possible that Eridan would still do something rash.

Strangely, he found his clothing after only a quick search, damp but clean of blood. Sollux frowned and began to dress, wondering if Eridan had really cleaned his clothing, and why.

Eridan surfaced and watched him, only his eyes visible above the water.

"I want out," Sollux said, loudly enough that Eridan couldn't pretend not to hear him even though his ears were under the water except for the fin-shaped tips. "We should go after gz before he killth anyone elthe. If he hathn't already." He pulled his shirt over his head and slipped his glasses onto his face, then turned to face Eridan squarely, lifting his chin stubbornly.

The aquatic troll moved towards the rim of the pool, barely creating a ripple in the water. He looked like a shark or something, gliding towards Sollux so smoothly, though Sollux was far enough away that he didn't feel intimidated. His eyes flicked to the lengths of fabric nailed to the wall, and narrowed as he remembered the hours he'd spent hanging there, helpless to Eridan's whims.

Eridan reached the edge and lifted himself out, moving with grace that looked unconscious, especially considering the nervous expression on his face. He was nude, and gorgeous, as usual. It made Sollux angry. "I wwant to talk," Eridan said, water sheeting off of his skin onto the floor. "Come on, Sol. Wwe need to talk about this."

"Didn't you hear what I thaid?" Sollux demanded. "I thaid I wanted out. I don't want to talk, and we need to go help our friendth. Or _I_ need to. You can fuck off and die for all I care."

The taller troll's eyes narrowed and he strode towards Sollux quickly. Sollux felt his heart skip a beat and he took two steps back, gathering himself, but Eridan only pulled his own clothes off of the table where Sollux had been standing - the same table where Sollux's clothes had been - and began to pull them on.

"Look," Eridan said, his voice taking on an imperious tone. "I get that you feel you'vve been wwronged, and I fuckin' understand. Maybe I wwent too far wwith our little powwer struggle, and I upright screwwed up by lettin' you go out there wwithout your powwers and lettin' you get fucking hurt wwhen I wwas supposed to be protectin' you. I'vve been thinkin' this up and dowwn and I see wwhat I did wwrong. All I'm askin' for is another chance. I think you owwe me that much, Sol, since I'm practically prostratin' myself here and noww, wwhich is a position that I ain't much used to and don't much like."

Sollux was just mildly irritated by the speech until Eridan said something about Sollux owing him a second chance. The taller troll was working his shirt on over his head, making sure his horns didn't tangle, and the instant that his face popped out of the fabric, Sollux punched him square in the jaw.

Eridan buckled with a howl of pain, clutching at his mouth, from which spurted purple blood. It looked as though he might have bitten his tongue, though unfortunately probably not badly enough to bleed to death.

Sollux punched him in the gut, and Eridan doubled over, gagging. Then he picked him up with his powers, and threw him against the far wall.

Eridan lay on the floor, gasping and moaning, his arms thrown up to protect his head and his whole body shaking.

"You getting thith?" Sollux snarled, advancing on the other troll. Eridan looked up, eyes wide, and his claws scrabbled on the wall as he tried to pull himself to his feet. "You hearing me now? You thtill want to talk, or do you want to do ath I thay and let me out of thith fucking room?"

"I hear you, fuck, I hear you," Eridan whined, managing to push himself to one knee, though it was clear that he was dizzy. He swayed a little, then scrambled up the rest of the way, backing away from Sollux with hands raised. "I'll let you out! I wwas alwways gonna do that, Sol!"

Sollux stopped his advance and watched Eridan scurry around him, back to where his clothes were. The purple-blood pulled on his shoes and then wrapped his scarf around himself, not looking at Sollux. He looked a little weary, now. Resigned.

Thank goodness. Maybe now he'd give up on all this bullshit. Sollux couldn't really understand why he was so insistent on 'talking' anyway. If Eridan wanted to, he could probably get someone else to fuck.

Though Sollux wasn't sure who.

But in any case, however lonely Eridan might be, he couldn't be _too_ crushed at not being able to fuck an ugly, mutated freak like Sollux, anymore. This whole stupid adventure had to have been just because Eridan was desperate, and enjoyed the power trip. But in the end, Sollux was sure he meant nothing to Eridan other than a convenient target. Someone with a weakness Eridan had figured out a way to exploit.

Well, Sollux wasn't going to be weak in front of Eridan, anymore.

"I'm not tryin' to stop you from leavvin. Just don't knoww wwhy you're this fuckin' pissed off," Eridan said sulkily, wringing his scarf between his hands. He stuck it in his mouth as if to stop more words from coming out, looking at Sollux from under brows that were drawn down unhappily.

Sollux glared at him. "Oh, you don't know why I'd be pithed at you keeping me prithoner? Raping me? Forthing me to do anything you wanted, no matter how humiliating? Fuck, ed, are you thith fucking _denthe_ or are you jutht thaying that to thave fathe?"

"Wwhat?" Eridan pulled the scarf from his mouth and stared at him with what looked almost like honest shock. "I nevver raped you, Sol! Don't givve me that kind a upright ridiculous nonsense. You wwere wwith me all the wway and you're just sore noww and sayin' that shit to get up my gills, and it's not gonna wwork!"

Sollux clenched his fists, energy beginning to crackle around him again. "You think I wathn't raped jutht becauthe I didn't fight you? Ith that the bullshit I'm hearing right now?"

"Wwell, a course," Eridan glared at him. "You nevver once said no, so get offa your high seahorse, Sol. You're just bein' stupid noww."

"You dumbshit," Sollux snarled, and picked Eridan up with his telekinetic power, the invisible force wrapping itself around Eridan and lifting him a foot into the air. "You think it'th fun hanging around, jutht waiting for thomeone to dethide they want to uthe you? You think thith wath the thame kind of game to me ath it wath for you!?"

Eridan made a strangled sound, struggling against the force which was obviously constricting his airway.

"You don't have a fucking clue," Sollux went on, advancing on the other troll with hand outstretched towards him, maintaining the force. "You don't know what ith like to jutht try to get along with thomeone you dethpithe because otherwithe he'll hurt you."

He was shaking with the force of his emotions and his head was pounding, but looking at Eridan hanging there, completely helpless, pushed buttons he didn't even know he had. He wanted to make Eridan hurt. Make him pay. Make him understand what Sollux had been going through at his hands.

With a growl, he flipped Eridan onto his back and then lowered him to lie on the floor. Sollux stood over him, the telekinetic power holding him pressed down, unable to move a muscle. Eridan looked up at him with eyes wide with abject terror, his lips slightly parted as he gasped for breath.

"Thith ith better," Sollux murmured, putting a foot on Eridan's stomach and leaning on it. Eridan groaned. "You at my feet. Theemth like good payback."

"S-Sol... let me up," Eridan gritted, his voice half whine, half frustration. "Come on. This is fuckin' stupid. Aren't wwe wwastin' time? Our fronds--"

"Oh, now you give a shit about our friendth?" Sollux sneered. "I'll let you up when _I'm_ good and ready, you get it?"

He searched Eridan's face for any sign that the other troll was taking some perverse pleasure from this, and saw nothing but terror and burgeoning anger. Well, good. He wanted Eridan scared and angry. He wasn't about to satisfy any more of Eridan's sick fantasies, not even by accident.

 _Let's see how he deals with being powerless,_ he thought grimly, dropping to one knee next to the prone troll. _Might be a good lesson for him._

"I care, I alwways cared," Eridan whimpered, shivering as he tried to shy away from Sollux, but he still couldn't move. "I don't wwant Fef or Kar or fuck, Vvris or anyone else to get fuckin' hurt. You knoww that!"

"No, jutht me. You jutht wanted to hurt me," Sollux said. Eridan was succeeding in making him feel a little guilty, but he pushed it aside for now. It had been hours already, he was sure, and a few more minutes wouldn't hurt. He hoped.

Anyway, this was a lesson Eridan needed, or so he told himself.

Eridan shook his head quickly, but Sollux increased the pressure to make him stop, and the highblood grunted in pain.

Sollux grabbed the hem of Eridan's shirt and pulled it up. Eridan's eyes went wide again, this time with startlement instead of fear. His gills were expanding and shutting, little lipless mouths with purple fanlike structures deep inside. They looked tender and sensitive.

He reached for the gills and Eridan made a loud, frightened sound of negation through his clenched teeth.

"You telling me no, ed?" Sollux asked, eyes narrowed. "But thee, you are completely at my merthy, tho I don't have to lithten to you if I don't feel like it."

Eridan squeezed his eyes shut with a whimper.

Wow, that sound was actually sort of hot. Sollux blinked at his own rather visceral reaction, biting his lip a little as he closed the remaining distance between his fingers and that gasping mouth between two of Eridan's ribs. He didn't really like the idea that he might be turned on by Eridan's fear, just the same way Eridan had been turned on by his own helplessness.

They weren't in a kismesisitude anymore, damnit. All he wanted to do was teach Eridan a lesson, and then this was over.

Gritting his teeth, he ran his finger along the rim of one of the gills. Eridan jumped, a loud noise in his throat. That time, it didn't sound like fear, but Sollux didn't care. It was a little heady, to be able to hurt Eridan if he wanted, or to give him pleasure, and for Eridan not to know which it was going to be.

The throbbing behind his eyes was quickly spreading and growing sharper, a stabbing agony that pulsed with the beating of his heart, but he maintained the telekinetic pressure. He slid a finger into the gill, feeling it flutter weirdly against his fingers. Eridan let out another sound, this one sounding far more nervous.

"I bet if I used my clawth in here, you'd be in a lot of pain," Sollux said conversationally, trying to control the way his voice wanted to shake.

Eridan whimpered again, and swallowed visibly.

Experimentally, Sollux eased up on the pressure around Eridan's head, allowing him to open his mouth to speak. He didn't waste time.

"Fuck, fuck, I'm sorry, Sol. I didn't...fuckin' mean it like that. I wwas just playin', I swwear," Eridan stammered. "Let me go, okay? I'll make it up to ya, any wwhich wway you wwant."

"Make it up to me?" Sollux rolled his eyes, drawing his fingers out of Eridan's gill and running the fingertips along the rim again. Eridan bucked against his bonds, his eyes rolling up in his head as he gave a shuddering gasp. "There'th no way you can make it up to me, got it?"

"Y-yeah, sure, wwhatevver you say," Eridan gasped, opening his eyes. He fixed a burning, needy expression on Sollux, and at that moment the smaller troll knew he was done. If he went any further, he'd wind up doing something he'd regret - which would probably involve having sex with Eridan again. And that would definitely not send the right message.

Even if it would be really fun.

Fuck. His. Life.

He got to his feet and released Eridan, then walked towards the teleportalizer, trying to ignore the arousal between his legs.

Eridan lay motionless for a few seconds, looking a little dazed and a lot confused. "Wwhat... Sol?"

"Did you forget?" Sollux snarled, hopping up onto the pad and turning back towards Eridan. "We've got trollth to thave."

"Oh...oh yeah," Eridan's disappointment was palpable. Sollux decided it was definitely a good thing he had stopped when he did. The last thing he was in the mood to do was make Eridan think he was forgiven.

Eridan got to his feet, and Sollux noticed with satisfaction that the royal troll seemed to be in quite a bit of discomfort. He pulled his shirt down and walked towards him, a little bow-legged.

"You make me thick," Sollux told him, hoping that his own arousal wasn't quite as obvious.

He had to have pulled it off all right, because Eridan said nothing, just stepped up next to him on the platform with eyes downcast, and activated it.

====>

Eridan didn't know how to feel.

He knew he should be angry. The helplessness he had felt at the hands of the pissblood who had rejected him should have sent him into an incandescent rage powerful enough to blot out the sun.

And a part of him _was_ angry. He watched Sollux' back as they walked down the hall in search of the others, thinking about how it would feel to wrap his hands around his neck and make him choke, how his blood would taste as he cut furrows in his skin with his claws and then licked it off of Sollux' entire body.

But mostly he was just miserable, and lonely, and frustrated. Ten times as much as he was before he had offered Sollux the collar and he had actually _accepted_. For a few hours he had tasted what it was like to have someone with him again, to not be alone, and now he was even more alone than before. Not only had Sollux rejected him utterly, but Karkat was mad at him, and it was inevitable that Feferi would find out, eventually.

And he couldn't even blame Sollux. Though he tried, experimenting with telling himself that Sollux was just being a jerk and stupid, and that it wasn't Eridan's fault at all, in his heart he knew it was a lie. He couldn't even fool himself about it, this time.

"Why don't you go thome other way?" Sollux snarled at Eridan as they plodded along. "I don't want you with me."

Eridan swallowed hard and struggled to straighten his shoulders. His pride was shattered and all he wanted to do was be alone, but he was afraid of what would happen if he went back to his room, as Sollux evidently wanted him to do. He wasn't sure what he'd do, other than sink into a black depth of misery he wasn't sure he'd ever claw his way out of.

"Can't say I care wwhat you fuckin' wwant, any more than I did a feww hours ago," Eridan said. It sounded pretty good in his head, but out loud it lacked conviction.

Sollux glared at him over his shoulder. "I could _make_ you leave me alone."

Eridan's stomach dropped. "I'm not fuckin' doing anythin wwrong right about noww, so just leavve it, Sol," he muttered, meeting the glare with one of his own. At least if Sollux pissed him off, it was easier to ignore the gaping, raw wound in his soul. "If wwe split up and Gam showws up, or somethin', wwhat'll wwe do then? Better wwe stick together just in case bad shit goes dowwn."

The other troll frowned and looked forward again, shrugging. "Fine, I gueth that maketh thenthe."

Then Sollux stopped dead with a soft, strangled noise. Eridan's eyes widened and an instant later the wand fell into his hand. He stared all around, then trotted forward to see what Sollux was looking at.

It was a trail of brownish orange blood, leading down the hall. And not just a few drips or smears, as if Tavros had been hurt and was bleeding. It was a wide stain, as if he had been soaked in his blood and then dragged. Eridan could scarcely believe there was so much blood left in Tavros' body, particularly after he'd already had his legs cut off.

"Fuck... you think this is Gam?" Eridan asked, his throat half-closed with a mixture of emotions. He didn't really care about the weak troll. He was even lower than Sollux and about a thousand times more pathetic. But it was shocking to think Gamzee might have killed Tavros, of all people.

"Who elthe could it be?" Sollux asked, his own cheeks looking a little pale. "Come on, let'th follow it."

Sollux started down the hall at a quicker pace, and Eridan hesitated a bit before trotting forward to catch up. "I don't knoww if this is a good fuckin' idea, Sol," Eridan said.

"If you're thcared, you know the way back," Sollux growled, his eyes scanning back and forth.

"I'm not scared, you shut the fuck up!" Eridan snapped with a flare of anger.

"Yeah, sure. Look, when we find gz, you can hide behind me, you fuckwit. Shoot at him with your thtupid toy, if you want, but make room for my awethome pthychic blathtth, or you might get burned," Sollux returned.

Eridan growled, eyes narrowing, and he drew himself up. "Funny, I wwas gonna say the same thing. You can just cowwer wwhile I unleash the awwesome powwer of my wwand. No pissblood crawwling wworm can possibly stand up to me, and if you get in my wway, you'll just get mowwed dowwn."

Sollux glanced up at him with a quicksilver, almost mischievous smile, and Eridan found himself smiling in return. There was something familiar about this, a back and forth banter that was easy and comfortable and black.

Energizing.

Not for the first time, Eridan wished that he could have been the one who went through the game with Sollux, instead of Feferi. Not only would he have had _someone_ to spend time with, but it would have been someone who was interesting, smart, and with whom he had an odd kind of pitch rapport.

Then Sollux seemed to remember himself and he scowled again, looking away and quickening his pace. Instantly, the moment was gone, and Eridan felt that energy he had had for a moment drain out of him like water through a sieve.

The drag marks led up a set of stairs and Sollux led the way upwards. The silence was oppressive, and Eridan struggled to think of a way to break it, to try to bring the energy between them back to that mood again. Sollux had to have felt it, too.

"This goes up to the roof, huh?" he said cautiously. "Wwhat do ya think Gam is doin' up there?"

"Chopping tv into little pietheth, from the blood," Sollux said, his tone heavy.

Well. That hadn't worked.

Sollux opened the door and Eridan heard a honk, and then a roar like a chainsaw motor.

It was happening again.

He didn't pause to think. With a snarl, he pushed Sollux aside and dove past him, taking the blow that was meant for his kismesis.

He barely even felt the pain before blackness overwhelmed him. Which was probably a mercy.

====>

Sollux scarcely had time to register the roar of the motor or the sight of Gamzee darting towards him before he felt a blow from the side. Eridan slammed into him and Sollux cursed as he caught himself on the wall.

For an instant the tall figure of the royal troll filled the doorway, and then purple blood fountained. Eridan fell backwards, Gamzee on top of him.

Sollux yelled in shock as Eridan plunged past him down the stairs and the two highbloods slid out of sight.

Kanaya stood in the doorway, her chainsaw coated liberally in purple blood. "Sollux?" she said, blinking. "Are you quite unhurt?"

Sollux gaped at her, then turned and dashed headlong down the stairs.

His feet hit a patch of blood and slid out from under him once, but he managed to catch himself with his powers. He flew the rest of the way.

Gamzee's legs from the waist down lay a short distance from the crumpled purple heap at the bottom of the stairs, and his upper half lay on Eridan's chest. He was definitely dead.

Eridan lay on his back, his eyes shut, gore coating him liberally from head to toe.

Sollux shoved the corpse aside and dropped to his knees beside Eridan, swearing. Sollux only now realized that he was also spattered with purple blood, as he reached to touch the other troll, but that didn't matter.

"Fuck, fuck, don't be dead, you fucking lother," he exclaimed, feeling for a pulse, but he couldn't tell if he could feel it or not beside the thunder of his own heart.

"Check his gills."

Sollux started and looked up. He hadn't noticed that anyone else had followed him, but Kanaya, Karkat, and Feferi stood gathered around him, looking solemn and unhappy. It was Feferi who had spoken, and she knelt beside him, pulling Eridan's shirt up and baring the gaping slits of his gills. They were still moving in a regular rhythm.

"Oh thank gog," Sollux breathed, then immediately wondered why he had said it. Didn't he hate Eridan, to the point of wanting him dead? It wasn't a rivalry, it was _loathing_.

"I apologize," Kanaya said in a subdued manner. "Did I harm him, as well? Gamzee tried to flee from us, but the door opened just as I reached him and attacked."

"I don't think so," Feferi said cheerfully. She had pulled Eridan's shirt up higher, baring his stomach and chest. "He doesn't look cut! I think he hit his head on the way down."

"Thtupid dumbath," Sollux snarled, and to his own shock, he felt tears sting his eyes. "He...he tried to thave me."

"He did?!" That was from Karkat, who was staring in shock. Then Karkat's jaw dropped further. "Hey! You don't have, uh..."

"The collar!" Feferi said, glubbing in shock. "You don't have it on, Sollux. Are you okay?"

"You do look somewhat worse for wear," Kanaya said. "But...collar?"

"Never mind that, Kanaya!" Karkat snarled. "Uh, but are you okay, Captor?" he added in a more subdued tone. "Last we saw, you had lost a pretty harsh argument with a wall."

Sollux drew in a breath, feeling overwhelmed by all the questions. "I'm okay," he said. "I jutht..."

He stared down at Eridan, struggling to figure out what he was feeling. Why had Eridan gotten in front of him like that? The only explanation he could think of was that he had thought Gamzee was attacking again and was trying to protect Sollux.

But why? Sollux had been able to protect himself, and more importantly, Eridan couldn't expect to get something out of it, this time. Sollux had made himself pretty clear.

A hand rested on his shoulder and he looked up into Feferi's kind, smiling face. "He is so hard to deal with, isn't he?" she asked, rolling her eyes a little.

"Yeah," Sollux agreed, looking down again.

"Stupid douchenozzle probably hates himself almost as much as you do," Karkat added. "You going to take him back?"

Sollux felt the tips of his ears burn. "I don't know."

Karkat thumped Sollux on the back of the head, causing a flare of pain. Sollux swore and rubbed the bruise from his earlier injury, looking up at his friend through watering eyes.

"He probably doesn't deserve it," Karkat growled, turning to stomp up the stairs. "But if he makes you happy, do it."

"Or if you just want to," Feferi said with a little giggle. "He does need someone to keep him in line."

"That is quite correct," Kanaya sighed.

Feferi wiped some of the blood tenderly from Sollux' face with her fingers. "I'm sorry I couldn't do it, myself, but I think you'll do a better job than I ever did. He never respected me, the way he respects you."

Sollux' mouth fell open. "What? Are you nutth?"

Feferi only giggled again, shaking her head, and got to her feet.

Then both of the girls turned to follow Karkat back up the stairs. Sollux looked down at Eridan again, thinking, then stood and lifted the royal troll with his powers. He started back down the hall once again.

Fuck, this was stupid.

====>

Eridan woke to a pounding headache and the gentle swish and glide of water through his gills. He floated, weightless, and tried to remember what had happened.

Abruptly, he realized the water tasted faintly of the coppery taste of land-dweller blood, and that flavour brought it all flooding back. He grimaced and tried to straighten himself up, thrashing against something that held him tight.

"Fuck, thtop thquirming! You're thafe now, jeguth, ed!"

The voice was muffled, coming from above the surface of the water, and Eridan stilled in shock. He opened his eyes and looked up, realizing that the tight bonds around him were Sollux' arms and legs, and he was held just an inch or two beneath the water, while Sollux' head was above water.

With a growl, Sollux let go of him and climbed out, while Eridan tentatively poked his head up above the water.

He was back in his own room.

Sollux had brought him back to his _own room_. A place he couldn't escape without Eridan's help. Though he supposed his own unconscious body was enough.

But why had Sollux bothered to bring him anywhere at all?

Eridan swam to the edge of the pool and stared up at Sollux, who had his back to him as he walked away. He was nude, and water beaded and glistened on his skin, instead of sheeting off quickly, like it did with Eridan. "Wwhat the fuck happened?" Eridan asked tentatively.

"You don't remember?" Sollux asked, walking away from him. The smaller troll sat on the edge of the bed, a good distance away from Eridan. He gazed at Eridan, wearing an inscrutable expression behind his glasses.

"I remember Gam attackin' you," Eridan said, climbing out and then rubbing the back of his head with a wince. "I thought I wwas gonna die."

"Gz wathn't attacking me," Sollux informed him. "He wath cut down by kn right before he hit you, and you both went down the thtairth. But he wath already dead when you fell."

"Oh," Eridan said, scowling a little with embarrassment. He searched Sollux' expression for any sign of amusement or mockery, but couldn't find any. He couldn't figure out what Sollux was thinking, at all.

He didn't know what else to do but wait, so he did, cautiously approaching the other troll halfway and taking a seat in his chair. He tried not to feel, well, naked. But Sollux was sitting there perfectly nude and not seeming to mind, despite the freakish state of his body, so Eridan wasn't to be out-done.

"You tried to thave my life," Sollux said solemnly, after a long, uncomfortable pause. "Why?"

Eridan squirmed, considering and discarding several possible replies. "It wwas just a thing, okay? I don't expect ya to understand the vvagaries of my wwhims."

Sollux rolled his eyes and said nothing.

"Wwhy'd you bring me here? And stick me under the wwater, too? That ain't exactly your usual sort a behavviour, especially since you can't fucking swwim," Eridan shot back, frowning at Sollux. He felt like if he could just figure out what was going on here, he would be on firmer ground, but right now everything was shifting under his feet.

"It wath jutht a thing," Sollux said sarcastically. "I don't ekthpect you to underthtand the vagarieth of my whimth."

Eridan's eyes narrowed. "Fuck off, Sol."

"You, too."

They fell silent for a moment, glaring at each other.

Then, finally, Eridan gave voice to the tiny bit of hope that was slowly growing in his chest. "Are ya...thinkin' of taking me back, like, into a pitch-type relationship, again?"

Sollux sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I gueth." Eridan surged up in his chair, elation giving him a rush of energy, but Sollux raised one finger warningly. "But I've got conditionth."

That wasn't totally unexpected, and Eridan settled back again, clenching his hands together. "Wwhat conditions are those? You don't havve any expectations of somethin' stupid like some kind a equality, like me not treatin' you like the lowwblood scum you knoww ya are."

"Not really," Sollux said, shrugging. "I know you'll be a highblood athhole no matter what I do."

"A royal troll wwho's so fuckin' high abovve you that you should be lookin' up at me from your knees, you mean," Eridan corrected loftily. He was already feeling a hell of a lot better, and his mind buzzed with plans and fantasies.

"Whatever," Sollux said, and got to his feet, picking up something from the bed. He walked towards Eridan, who jumped up as well, frowning down at the shorter troll until he realized what he was holding.

Two collars, and a ring.

Eridan recoiled nervously. "Is that your condition?"

"Yeth," Sollux said, holding one of the collars and the ring out to Eridan. "I want that thilenthe back, you know that. But I'm not doing it tho long ath you can jutht turn it off any time you like. You want to punish me with this ring? You thuffer, too. If I'm not worth thith to you, you can jutht go thtraight to hell."

"But, it's so much wworse for me," Eridan protested, though in his heart he knew he really didn't have a leg to stand on. "And I don't havve your powwers, either. It's not fuckin' fair, Sol!"

Sollux looked up at him, a slow, contemptuous smirk spreading across his face. The expression made Eridan's blood boil. "You thaying you can't betht me in a fair fight, ed?"

Eridan purpled and grabbed the collar and ring out of Sollux' hand. "I'll have you on your kneeth in ten thecondth flat," he snarled, and slipped the collar around his neck, fastening it, then putting on the ring.

Sollux nodded and put his own collar on. It glittered at his throat, and Eridan reached out almost without meaning to, stroking his fingers down Sollux' neck and along the rim of the collar. The smaller troll shivered and bared his teeth, hissing a warning against the touch to such a vulnerable place.

It was the most beautiful sound.

Eridan caught the back of Sollux' neck and tried to drag him towards the water.

"No! Fuck you. We're doing thith on land, thith time, gog," Sollux snarled, and the next thing Eridan knew, two fingers had plunged into one of his gills. There was a stabbing explosion of pain that rippled right through him, and he snarled, his own claws raking into Sollux' tender neck, where he gripped him.

"Let the fuck go," Eridan said, his voice thready from agony despite the rage.

Sollux looked up at him, startled, and withdrew the fingers, leaving a throbbing ache behind. "You okay?"

Eridan kicked the smaller troll's feet out from under him and Sollux went down hard on his backside with a yelp. Eridan followed him a second later, grabbing Sollux' hands and pinning them above his head. "You don't fuckin' do that again. _Evver_!"

Sollux struggled, and then Eridan felt an invisible hand pick him up and toss him aside. He went sprawling, but picked himself up on hands and knees, holding his side with one hand. A bit of blood leaked from the gill that Sollux had lacerated. Sollux sat up.

The two trolls' eyes met and locked. Eridan grinned. So did Sollux.

A moment later, the two were tangled together on the floor, rolling over and over, biting and clawing, their lips locked together in a harsh kiss. The pool was forgotten, and the bed ignored. They humped and ground their groins together, their bulges both split open and the tender flesh underneath flushed with blood and hardening.

Somehow, Eridan got a hand around one of Sollux' shafts. He stroked it and Sollux groaned and moaned, grinding himself down against the bigger troll, who lay flat on his back, rocking up against the slighter weight.

Sollux wormed a hand between them, shoving Eridan's legs apart with telekinetic force and pinning the troll to the floor as two fingers slid deep into Eridan's nook. Eridan snarled and fought the bonds, but unlike before, he could breathe and speak, and even move his arm to jerk Sollux off with ferocity.

"Fuck you, you loww-born piece of fuckin' trash," Eridan spat. "You are not fuckin' doing that! You should be under me, you scum-sucking, slime licking wwriggler!"

"I love you, too," Sollux said sweetly, and twisted his lower body. Eridan still had one of his bulges in hand, but the other plunged into Eridan's nook, sliding easily into the passage, slick with arousal and far larger than Sollux' own mutated, split genitalia.

Eridan howled with rage and pleasure, jerking upwards against the telekinetic pressure. He couldn't move, couldn't fight, and there was nothing he could do but take what Sollux gave him.

He loved it.

Sollux gasped and writhed above him, his own movements completely unhampered as he snapped his hips forward, driving himself through the circle of Eridan's fingers and into his nook at the same time. The two trolls' breathing became more and more laboured, the room filled with the sounds of their gasping cries.

Then Sollux lifted one hand and played it down Eridan's gills like he was plucking the strings of a musical instrument. The first one, the one Sollux had clawed, flared with pain, but that was immediately subsumed by intense pleasure as his fingers brushed against sensitive organs that were flushed with blood and gaping with Eridan's rapid breaths.

Eridan screamed, his mouth open wide and his head thrown back. His toes curled and his climax swept him out to sea.

He vaguely heard Sollux give a groan and then cry out himself, and felt more genetic material spatter his chest, even as more flowed into his nook in a warm, pleasurable rush.

====>

carcinoGeneticist [CG] began trolling caligulasAquarium [CA]

CG: HEY, NOT THAT I REALLY CARE THAT MUCH, BUT I WAS SORT OF GENERALLY WONDERING IF YOU WERE ALIVE IN THERE.  
CG: AT LEAST, WE WERE ALL SORT OF WONDERING.  
CG: NOT ME, SPECIFICALLY. I WAS JUST CHOSEN TO BE THE ONE TO TROLL YOU FOR SOME UNFATHOMABLE REASON.  
CG: PROBABLY MY SPARKLING PERSONALITY.   
CA: oh hey, kk  
CA: oop2, hang on

twinArmageddons [TA] began trolling carcinoGeneticist [CG]

TA: wow, that'2 way better  
TA: typiing iin that 2hiit colour made my 2tomach churn   
CG: IF YOU'RE DONE FUCKING AROUND  
CG: AT LEAST I ASSUME THERE WASN'T ANY FUCKING GOING ON, IN A LITERAL SENSE.   
TA: 2orry yeah  
TA: ed can't come two the hu2ktop riight now  
TA: he'2 iindii2po2ed  
TA: iif you know what ii mean  
TA: but two an2wer your que2tiion, he'2 not dead  
TA: and we may have been fuckiing around a liittle   
CG: OH MY GOD  
CG: I CAN'T EXPRESS THE DEPTHS OF MY HATRED FOR BOTH OF YOU SICK OVER-SHARING NOOKSNIFFERS.  
CG: ...  
CG: I'M GLAD YOU WORKED IT OUT.   
TA: thank2, kk   
CG: THIS IS PROBABLY THE PART WHERE A CARING FRIEND WILL TELL YOU TO HAVE FUN AND NOT DO ANYTHING EXCESSIVELY DANGEROUS OR STUPID.  
CG: BUT I KNOW THAT THOSE EXPECTATIONS ARE SO FAR BEYOND WHAT YOU'RE CAPABLE OF, IT WOULD BE A WASTE OF PRECIOUS PIXELS JUST TO TYPE THEM.  
CG: SO I'M JUST GOING TO TELL YOU TO FUCK OFF AND THAT POSSIBLY YOU MIGHT WANT TO COME UPSTAIRS AT SOME POINT.  
CG: BUT THERE'S NO BIG RUSH. END OF THE UNIVERSE. SCRATCH COMING. NOTHING REALLY IMPORTANT.    
TA: you're the be2t  
TA: really, ii'm teariing up   
CG: GO FUCK YOURSELF.  
CG: AND I MEAN THAT IN THE NICEST POSSIBLE WAY. 

carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased trolling twinArmageddons [TA]

caligulasAquarium [CA] began trolling carcinoGeneticist [CG]

CA: thanks kar  
CA: for wwhatevver you did, if you did anythin i mean   
CG: YEAH YEAH  
CG: DON'T SCREW IT UP, THIS TIME.

carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased trolling caligulasAquarium [CA]

CA: i wwont


End file.
